 deal, signed on Monday morning, will see a 40% increase in the number of officers patrolling beaches along the French coastline. For the first time, British border staff will be stationed in control rooms on the other side of the Channel to observe operations. The Prime Minister said he is 'confident' he can curb the small boat crossings that are now at a record high, but he suggested it could take months. Home Secretary Suella Braverman struck the agreement with her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin this morning. The government has already handed 200 million euros (£175million) to Paris since 2018 to end the crossings, but things have got worse. Home Secretary Suella Braverman struck the deal ( PA) The number who have made the journey in small boats this year passed 40,000 yesterday, up from 28,526 in 2021. Mr Sunak, who is flying to the G20 summit in Indonesia, pledged to tackle the crossings. He told reporters: 'I do think that the absolute priority that the British people have right now, as do I, is to grip illegal migration. 'I made a commitment that I would grip it in the summer and I can tell you I've spent more time working on that than anything else - other than obviously the Autumn Statement - over the past couple of weeks.' The number who have made the journey in small boats this year has passed 40,000 ( Getty Images) But the PM admitted it may take time before the numbers drop significantly. He said: 'Look, I've been honest that there's not a single thing to do to fix it and we can't fix it overnight. 'But t){kind=link}
Home Secretary Suella Braverman struck the £63million deal with her counterpart on Monday morning, which will put British border staff in French control rooms for the first time
Britain has agreed to pay France tens of millions of pounds more to stop people making dangerous Channel crossings, but Rishi Sunak has admitted the problem may still persist.
A 72 million euro (£63 million) deal, signed on Monday morning, will see a 40% increase in the number of officers patrolling beaches along the French coastline.
For the first time, British border staff will be stationed in control rooms on the other side of the Channel to observe operations.
The Prime Minister said he is “confident” he can curb the small boat crossings that are now at a record high, but he suggested it could take months.